Grover Leon Blagg passed away Friday, August 26, 2022, at his home in Willow Springs, MO. He was born on January 16, 1946, to Walter Blagg and Doris Inez (Notter) Blagg. He was the fourth of seven children. He was born in a house that sat on a sand knoll on the family cotton farm just north of Neelyville, MO. The house had neither electricity nor running water. A lot of rain had fallen sending Cane Creek and Little Black River from their banks requiring that his dad bring the doctor to the house on a tractor.
He began picking cotton at the age of six and chopping cotton at the age of ten. He found great pleasure in the hard work of chopping and picking cotton. He attended the one room school of McIntush until the fourth grade, at which time, McIntush consolidated with Neelyville. He graduated from Neelyville High School in 1964. In the spring of that year, he was able to chop cotton for two weeks before he left for college. He left the cotton fields for the School of the Ozarks with only $50.00. He received an Associate of Science degree from the School of the Ozarks. He then transferred to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR where he received the degrees of Bachelor of Science, Master of Business Administration, and Specialist in Community College Teaching. He started teaching high school in Pacific, MO, but after one semester, he joined the Navy. While in the U.S. Navy, he served with a heavy attack bomber squadron and onboard a destroyer. He always wore the uniform of American Sailor with great pride.
Mr. Blagg started teaching in Willow Springs, MO in August of 1973 and remained there until 2008, thirty-five years. After retirement, he continued to substitute in Willow Springs High School and middle school for a total of forty-four years of teaching at Willow Springs. Mr. Blagg always had a great appreciation and fondness for the students and found them to be most entertaining. He was obsessed with the idea that all students should learn the fine art of touch typing, and to that end, he devoted his professional life. He had a great dedication to his students and used only two sick days during his teaching career. He also taught night classes at Missouri State University in West Plains for twenty-one years.
For Mr. Blagg, his family was always his first priority in life. He married Beverly Besera October 14, 1988, in Willow Springs. He wanted to live long enough to get his four children through college without any debt, which he did. Mr. Blagg was an avid reader and appreciator of books all of his life. He enjoyed antiques, carpentry, and was a great gatherer of rocks. Many times, during his life he even fancied himself a writer, but he always had to self-publish his books.
He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers: Danny Wade Blagg, Walter Clay Blagg, Franklin Cole Blagg, and Herbert Lynn Blagg; and one sister, Mona Alvern Blagg Smith.
Mr. Blagg is survived by his wife, Beverly Blagg of the home; four children: Master Gunnery Sergeant Walter James Blagg (Alicia) of the U.S. Marine Corps; Tye Olliver Blagg (Melissa) of West Plains; Owen Leon Blagg of Willow Springs; and Lieutenant Crystal Beverly Blagg of the U.S. Navy. Also surviving are five grandchildren: Austin Blagg, Jasmine Blagg, Mackenzie Blagg, Lillian Blagg, and Mariah Blagg, and one sister, Darlene Blagg Dawsey of Corning, AR.
A visitation will be held Thursday, September 1, 2022, from 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. at Willow Funeral Home, LLC with the funeral service immediately following at 11:00 A.M. Arrangements are under the direction of Willow Funeral Home, LLC. Online condolences may be left at www.willowspringsfuneralhome.com
Mr. Blagg spent most of his life in Willow Springs, but he will be returned to the cotton fields of his youth for burial. He will be laid to rest in Kinsey Cemetery in Butler County, MO. Many of his family members are already buried there and they await his arrival.
